Red Bull attributes the win to Verstappen’s “exceptional performance” in the US

In a great season, it was Red Bull He achieved another feat that seemed very difficult in 2021 as he was fighting hard for titles in Formula 1. US GP, in the Circuit of the Americas, traditionally a fief of mercedes Since the beginning of the Hybrid Era, it has been Max Verstappen as first center on saturday f, uA day later, the Dutchman won in Austin thanks to the Taurus strategy with stop And according to Christian Horner, also to the 24-year-old competitor’s “tremendous drive”.

Since 2014, it has been only the second time in nine races that Mercedes has not won – Kimi Raikkonen, then in Ferrari, triumphed in 2018. Until last weekend, no car that was not from the team led by Toto Wolff had started to take the honors position in the grid.

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In Horner’s view, the tactical knot in timing Verstappen’s first leg was crucial to the race sequence. Max stopped on lap 10, changed his medium tires to hard tires, and had more free time on the track, while Lewis Hamilton He stopped to put on the hard tires after three laps.

“I think we were faster on the medium tire, and Max could see that Lewis was slipping a lot and that we were in danger of overheating because we got stuck. So we decided to take a chance and get some fresh air in front of us. Of course, that would put pressure on us. At the end of the race,” the manager stressed during a press conference right after the race.

“Because Mercedes took so long, we were able to force them to run the first job by bringing in the ‘Czech’ [Pérez] Moreover. But, of course, they managed to extend that long, and that gave them an eight lap advantage at the end of the race.”

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At that point, as Red Bull called Verstappen to make the second stop on lap 29, Mercedes extended the second period to its fullest and only brought Hamilton back to the pit on lap 37. Since then, it has been a real battle. . And the mouse in the last laps. The seven-time champion, having solid tires in much better condition, blew chances to beat his opponent and take victory in Austin.

But Horner described Verstappen’s tire management as “decisive in the last five laps” and praised his rider’s journey to the top of the podium in Texas With “tremendous performance”. “It’s a big win for us in a circuit where Lewis and Mercedes were very strong in the hybrid era,” the Red Bull coach celebrated.

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However, in addition to all the drama alone as Hamilton approaches the final laps of the US Grand Prix, Horner has been confirmed by two extremes, one of whom was a member of the Red Bull Drivers program, Yuki Tsunoda of The AlphaTauri.

“It’s very difficult to implement your strategy with the latecomers. We lost a lot of time chasing Yuki, and then chasing after that.” Mick Schumacher They are expensive in the final rolls. I thought it would cost victory because he caught Max in an entire sector. Horner, who sighed at the last flag, added, “But fortunately we got into the DRS straight, and that gave Max some room to breathe in turn 1. But it definitely contributed to the pressure on the hole wall.” Which led to Red Bull winning the US F1 GP for only the second time.